Friday, June 27, 2008

Worried


Worried
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
I have a love- hate relationship with the police. I should feel secure when these guys are around but I can't help but feel that I'm doing something wrong. At least there was more than enough security at this game.

World Cup Stadium


World Cup Stadium
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The North vs. the South. The game ended tied at 0-0. That seems appropriate enough.

Seoul View


Seoul View
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The view from Seoul Tower.

Neigbors


Neigbors
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The swastika is actually the Buddhists. Notice how it goes backwards? This place is across from my apartment and houses a church and a Buddhist temple. Proof we can all get along.

The Place Where is Full of Joy

Oh, the irony.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Lucky Number 13

Lucky us--today is Friday the 13th. Last year at the hagwon (private English academy) we read an article in one of my classes about why the number thirteen is considered unlucky. No one really knows how the superstition got started but the book hypothesized that there were 13 people at the last supper right before Jesus died, so that's why christians consider it unlucky. There's also a Norse legend about how twelve gods were invited to some sort of dinner party (I had no idea that gods had dinner parties) but thirteen of them showed up so one of the gods, Baldr, had to be killed. I guess they're really strict about the head count at Norse dinner parties.

Anywhoo-- we had the kids write an essay summarizing why the number thirteen is unlucky. I was greatly discouraged to realize that the kids really didn't really understand the whole lesson when half the children turned in papers about how the Norse god Baldr killed Jesus. I received essays that would have given the pope and aneurysm. It was a little odd giving the kids a mini-history lesson later on, telling them that Jesus was not in fact killed by an ancient Norse god.

The number thirteen is not unluck here. No, the number four has that spot. In Korean the number four sounds like the Chinese word for death so four is sometimes represented with a big F instead. That'll keep death at bay. The color red is supposed to be unlucky as well. The kids informed me that if you write someone's name in red ink that the person will die. I had to inform them at this point that everyone dies. The must think I'm extremely wise knowing what I do about Jesus and death. I'll admit that in moments of extreme frustration I've been known to write certain students' names in red ink over and over again. I don't believe in the superstition, not even the slightest..........still.

Dynamic Busan


Dynamic Busan
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
This was my third trip to Busan and a very welcome escape.

Sparklers


Sparklers
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
Here's everyone having fun with sparklers, or at least as much fun as I will let them have. I told them to move the sparklers around but to try to keep their bodies as still as possible so I could get my epic pic. Sometimes I can be a camera Nazi. Maybe I should just let people have fun and take a picture of that.

Mmmm...Koreans


Mmmm...Koreans
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
We ended up in Busan during the sand festival, meaning there were lots of sand sculptures and even more people.

Megatropolis


Megatropolis
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
This is the Korean countryside, really. People here consider this out in the boonies.

Little Monster 4


Little Monster 4
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
I love what you can see up close. At the train station these little caterpillars were everywhere, but they look like nothing if you just glance at them. When you get close and study them, it's amazing the colors and the detail they contain. I'm fixing to get some macro filters (even better closer-up thingies) for my camera so I get even better resolution.

Korean Ladybug


Korean Ladybug
Originally uploaded by karmking1111.
The little monsters that live among us.